Evans to miss Tour Down Under

Date: November 30 2012

Samantha Lane

CADEL Evans is bypassing Australia's biggest road race, Tour Down Under, leaving it to two foreign world champions to represent his BMC racing team in the first major event of the 2013 professional season.

For a second consecutive year the 35-year-old champion will not race in Australia during his annual sabbatical at home. He will not even be in the country by the time racing begins in Adelaide, opting instead for a training camp in Europe.

While Evans spends his customary off-season break in Australia - he returned from Switzerland with his wife and son this month - the six-stage race in Adelaide from January 20 to January 27 has again been left out of his program that focuses on the July Tour de France.

''He feels it is the best preparation for him to be in the training camps,'' Evans' manager, Jason Bakker, said.

''I'm sure he'd like to do it if he could, but you can't do everything.

''He doesn't do it [not race Tour Down Under] dismissively, but I think while his goal is to win the Tour de France this is the best preparation. If the goal shifts from that then Tour Down Under may figure again.''

Evans delighted fans and organisers by undertaking Tour Down Under in 2010, soon after he had become world road champion and joined BMC, but skipped the event six months before claiming cycling's most revered prize - the yellow Tour de France jersey - the next year.

While Tour Down Under sought to entice Evans to ride the event this year, given he was the reigning Tour de France champion, it did not actively pursue him for next year.

''They'd love to have him, and he'd love to do the road national [championships as well, but those sorts of things might be for a day down the track,'' Bakker said.

''I have good memories of this race,'' Gilbert said. ''My first time was in 2004 [with FDJeux.com] with a lot of Australians - Baden Cooke, Matt Wilson and Mark Renshaw - so it was a very good experience. I won the young-rider jersey, a stage and was fourth overall, so it was very good experience for a 22-year-old.

''My winter training and preparation so far has been perfect. I saw the 'parcours' [course] on the internet and it looks good for me so I will go there with some ambition and we also bring a great team.

''But for the first race, it's hard to know how you will really feel.''

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